I Want to Take Him as My Disciple Myself!

Sarutobi Mizuya was startled by the two men's reactions, to the point that he was no longer quite certain. "Uh... y-yes, Torikaze did indeed say it was Crystal Release."

Hashirama Senju was overjoyed at this.

"Quick! Tell us everything!"

Sarutobi Mizuya immediately answered seriously, "I saw two of Torikaze's ninjutsu. The first was when he was struck by the Great Fireball Technique—his entire body turned into a crystal statue. But I think it was more like a branch of the Substitution Technique."

"The second was creating countless crystal shuriken out of thin air. Their power and speed surpassed ordinary shuriken, and they were so densely packed that they were difficult to evade."

After hearing this, Tobirama Senju pondered for a while. "It seems this kid has mastered Crystal Release for some time already. Otherwise, how could he have learned those ninjutsu? I've never heard of a Kekkei Genkai called Crystal Release."

Hashirama Senju nodded in agreement. He had already thought highly of Torikaze, believing the boy should be able to learn the Windcloud Clan's Cloud Release Secret Technique. Yet he had still underestimated Torikaze's talent!

Seeing that the two lords were in good spirits, Sarutobi Mizuya cautiously asked, "Lord Hokage, Lord Tobirama, you mentioned Cloud Release just now. Could it be that Torikaze has mastered a second Kekkei Genkai ninjutsu?"

Hashirama Senju shook his head. "You know far too little about your students. You don't even know about the Windcloud Clan?"

At those words, Sarutobi Mizuya immediately felt deeply ashamed and repeatedly apologized.

"Young people should study more. If one day a student asks you a tricky question and you cannot answer it, wouldn't that undermine your authority?"

"Lord Tobirama is right. I have indeed been slacking off lately."

Hashirama Senju's laughter broke the somewhat heavy atmosphere. "Hahaha, it's fine, it's fine. Go back and ask Sasuke. He definitely knows about the Windcloud Clan."

After repeatedly expressing his thanks, Sarutobi Mizuya left the Hokage Office. Being criticized by Lord Hokage and Lord Tobirama for lacking knowledge was undoubtedly the greatest embarrassment of his life. He swore that he would never let something like this happen again!

Inside the office, Hashirama and Tobirama discussed Torikaze's Crystal Release.

"Big Brother, I don't think there's any need to keep observing this kid. This morning, Kagami told me some of the things the kid had said. I think he has a good mind and temperament."

"Mm, that's what I think too."

Tobirama was in a good mood. Taking a genius like this as a disciple would surely make teaching much easier.

"Then I'll take him as my disciple, and we can teach him together."

"No! This time, I want to take a disciple myself."

Tobirama had not expected his big brother to say that, though he was not particularly surprised. After all, Hashirama's Wood Release was mastered by him alone. Perhaps he could provide more help in developing Kekkei Genkai ninjutsu.

He came up with countless explanations for why his big brother wanted to personally take on a disciple, but if Hashirama had known, he would probably have burst out laughing.

In truth, Hashirama simply wanted a disciple of his own. Although the two of them taught Tobirama's six disciples together, they were not his own disciples. He had always wanted to take one on, but there were simply too few geniuses in Konoha—hardly any who could truly amaze Hashirama.

That was, until Torikaze appeared a month ago. Before then, he had never met Torikaze. He only knew that Windcloud Mountain had a son, the sole descendant of the Windcloud Clan.

Yet when he first met the boy, he had been stunned. The Chakra contained within that tiny body nearly rivaled that of a First-Rate Ninja. He had thought the boy might learn the Windcloud Clan's Cloud Release Secret Technique, but he had never expected him to possess an unprecedented Kekkei Genkai like Crystal Release as well.

Sure enough, a child's potential was limitless.

"If this child grows up, perhaps he might even become stronger than me."

Tobirama glanced at his big brother. "Who knows?"

Who could say whether he would live long enough to grow up? The future was the hardest thing to predict. Geniuses were never scarce, but most died young, all because of the title of genius.

"Where is that child?" Hashirama Senju asked.

"I'll send someone to find him."

Torikaze, meanwhile, had no idea that the Hokage intended to take him as a disciple personally. His original goal had merely been to become the Second Hokage's disciple, and that would have been enough. Unfortunately, he had somewhat underestimated his own talent.

Among Tobirama's six disciples, perhaps only Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kagami Uchiha could temporarily compare to Torikaze in talent.

Yes, temporarily compare. After all, Torikaze's talent was not fixed.

"Torikaze, shall we order more meat? I'm not even full yet."

Torikaze looked at the stack of empty plates on the table in surprise. How could this little girl eat so much at only six years old? Still, surprise was surprise. He had said she could eat as much as she wanted, and he meant it. He was not short on such a small amount of money.

"Owner, bring us another twenty plates of meat."

Having encountered such a major customer, the owner naturally beamed and agreed to bring it right away.

Chisato felt a little embarrassed at this point, but for some reason, she never liked putting on the act of a proper young lady in front of Torikaze.

"Torikaze, can your wallet still handle it?"

Torikaze waved a hand. "How much could this possibly cost? I'm more worried about whether your stomach can handle it."

Chisato put on an energetic expression. "Of course! Every night when I get home, I make my brother spar with me, so I need to eat my fill at noon!"

In that regard, she was the opposite of Torikaze. Afraid that eating too much would affect his nighttime training, he only ate until he was about eighty percent full at noon.

He knew his current weakness very well. Although he possessed the strength of a Chunin through the system, his Taijutsu was quite weak. Therefore, he trained his Taijutsu every night.

Before long, the owner pushed over a small cart carrying twenty plates of meat. Perhaps out of kindness, or perhaps to keep these two wealthy customers, the owner had also given them an extra plate of meat and some vegetables.

"Torikaze, let's spar sometime too."

Torikaze smiled. "Why did you suddenly think of that?"

Chisato looked serious, as though to say she was not joking. "I want to know how big the gap between us is."

Torikaze rubbed his nose. "I'm very weak. The kind who dies the moment someone hits him. We should forget about it."

Torikaze had wanted to muddle through it, but Chisato had no intention of letting him off. She stared straight at him, making Torikaze feel a little embarrassed.

"Alright, alright, I promise. Now hurry up and eat!"

Chisato smiled sweetly, then seemed to remember something serious, and her expression turned solemn again.

"Torikaze, you absolutely have to watch out for someone!"

"Who?"

Chisato's face was grave, with not a trace of humor.

"Uchiha Setsuna."